


The Wrong Side Of Reality

by infraredphaeton



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-13 01:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13559742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infraredphaeton/pseuds/infraredphaeton
Summary: The voidfish's ability eats holes in reality. This means that, say, if you fed the destiny and identity of the seven most important people in the fate of the universe to it, there could be some repercussions.Like your universe deciding to take matters into its own hands.By taking the seven most important people in the fate of another universe, and kind of just. Applying them. To your universe. Just to find those original ones.Vox Machina did not expect this.  Who the hell are the 'Seven Birds', and how are they meant to find them, precisely?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set around episode 36 of Critical Role, and just after The Eleventh Hour for The Adventure Zone. It'll contain spoilers for the entirety of TAZ, but not many for CR- mainly because I have not yet finished the VM arc of Critical Role.
> 
> Title from 'Young and Menace' by Fall Out Boy

The void fish, in its natural habitat, is a creature that tidies. It eats away small holes in the fabric of the universe with its consumption of knowledge, and then regurgitates it, half-digested, for less psychically able creatures.

This neatens up the balance of knowledge in the universe, creating a balanced, healthy ecosystem. It destroys creatures that disturb the fabric of reality by eating that piece of reality, and spreads art, joy, and wonder throughout the plane through its natural emissions.

It's the yoghurt of astral beasts.

It keeps your universe regular.

However, if one were to, for example, keep a void fish locked up in a small tank and constantly feed it bits of the universe, it leads to quite a few holes in the fabric of reality. If you then refuse to let it finish that cycle and broadcast to the rest of the dimension, you have created quite a quandary.

You've made it into anti-yoghurt.

It's making your universe lumpy and cranky and far more likely to throw up occasionally.

And, more importantly, if you feed your void fish the lives of some very important, very key figures in the fate of not just your plane, but the entire universe-

Well. That has repercussions.

In that one day, your universe- let's call it Universe A, to make things easier- Universe A will look around for its toys, and go, "hey, has anyone seen my fabulous elf twins with unimaginable fated powers?"

and another universe- let's call it Universe B- will go, "no, I haven't seen your twins. I have my twins, but I haven't seen yours."

And Universe A will scratch its head and look around again. "Are you sure? They're kind of sassy and mysterious, have a complex fate intertwined with unimaginable magical power, one of them has a complex relationship with Death?"

And B will say "No. I mean, they sound a lot like my twins. But they're not."

"Well, could I borrow yours?" Universe A will ask, completely unaware of the fact that one of his twins is alive and well and on a cooking show, and the other one is currently hidden in an umbrella.

"No, I need them."

"Come ooooon," the younger universe will whine, "You're not using them right noooooow."

"Yes I am!" the older will say, holding its half-elves to its chest, "Look, they're on a quest!"

"They’re going to a festival. They’re having a drinking contest! Glug glug glug, never mind that this guy’s  _ entire universe _ is going to get  _ eaten _ if he can’t find his dudes! Eating pie is  _ way  _ more important!"

"It's an important part of the story." Universe B says, crossing its arms. “You would totally send yours to a festival, if you could find them.”

They watch the little people toddle around for a little bit, but Universe A can’t settle, still looking for its players.

“You still want my twins, don’t you?”

"Come ooooon. Play with me."

"I'm not giving you my elves."

"Play with meeeee," Universe A says, "in this spaaaace."

"I want to play in my own space. Your space is silly."

"You have so many though. You won't miss a couple! And my space isn't silly!"

"You have elevators."

"I like elevators!" Universe A reaches for the twins, and universe B slaps its hand.

It will take eons, and the blink of an eye, but eventually Universe B will give in.

"Fine. But you better be careful. If they come back with any scuffs, you're never using my toys again."

"I'll be careful!" Universe A promises, and snatches up the twins. They're half-elves, not full elves, but it's close enough, and Universe A looks over at Universe B's other favoured playthings.

"I'm uh, I'm missing some other players."

Universe B picks up all its toys and holds them close to itself.

"No! I gave you the twins."

"Do you want them to be loooonely? All alone, by themselves?"

"...You can have one more, I guess."

"Well, have you got, like, a crunchy, cranky nature priest with a heart of gold? Kind of the comic relief?"

"I guess if you kind of...combine these three?" Universe B says doubtfully, looking at the rest of the party.

"Yoink!"

"Oh, fine. What else?"

"Uhh, front line fighter with a sense of right and wrong. Must love animals."

“I don’t really.. I guess if we put these two together?”

“Well, I’ll just pop them right in my fantasy Jansport and hump them on over here to be with all their buds,” Universe A says cheerfully, scooping up the players.

"That only leaves me with one," Universe B says, looking down at the gunslinger. Admittedly, he's looking a little rough. The last little bit has been difficult for all of them, but especially for him.

"Well, I wouldn't want him to be lonely," A says, making grabby hands.

"But you don't need him?"

"Uh. I need a... misunderstood loner who does the wrong things for the right reasons. Preferably white haired."

"Fine!"

Universe B passes over the last player and takes a seat next to A.

"So, what are you going to do with them?"

"Find out where my real players are," A says, "...do you want to help?"

"How many are you missing?”

“Seven. Ish. Kind of seven, but maybe four? I know where Barry is, at least.”

“I think I’d be interested in seeing what you’re doing, at least,” Universe B says, “But no elevators!"

"Just for that, they're waking up in an elevator." Universe A says, and then, there are repercussions.

All because you made anti-yoghurt.

I hope you're happy with yourself and your choices.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a long time since Percy had been on a boat, but the slow shifting movement beneath him felt like the rocking of the waves. This was quite unexpected, as he had gone to bed in Whitestone, which was a significant distance from any body of water larger than the village pond, which in turn was only large enough to float a dinghy on, and even then, it would be slightly embarrassing, as it would take up around eighty percent of the water surface.

  
As such, when he opened his eyes, he wasn't exceedingly surprised to find himself looking not at wood or water, but at crumbled red-brown rock and weathered black beams. It was, however, still fairly surprising, as he had expected to wake up to the dressed stone and arched windows of his bedroom. Peering around, it looked like he was in a small room made of metal, with double doors open to the rock and clay he'd first noticed. He was also not alone.

The assembled groaning mass of Vox Machina was lying around him- Vax's arm was flung over his chest, Vex's leg hooked over his hip, and Grog's knee was making good friends with the small of his back. As he blinked his way back into some semblance of consciousness, he noticed that the gap behind the double doors seemed to be narrowing, and as he scrambled to his feet, they closed entirely, leaving them alone in the small, featureless room.

"What the hell happened last night?" Vax groaned, sitting up and pressing a hand to his head. "I feel like we went on a pub crawl."

"I don't remember a pub crawl," Scanlan said, not even bothering to get up, "but that doesn't mean it didn't happen."

"Well, I didn't go on a pub crawl," Pike said, pushing stray tendrils of hair out of her face, "and I don't remember coming to wherever we are, either."

"Pike!" Grog growled, throwing off Scanlan and a whimpering Keyleth so he could pull Pike into a hug. “You're here! Wait, how are you here?"

"Ow, ow ow ow ow," Keyleth bit out, curling in on herself so tightly her headdress almost got tangled in her boot laces, and Vex, who was next to her, laid a careful hand on her head.

"Keyleth?"

"My brain. Is dying." Keyleth said, and Vex began to pet her hair softly.

Percy, who had finally battled his way to his feet, lurched as the room seemed to move, and he grabbed the thin railing that encircled the small room at about hip height to stop himself falling. It was a strange looking room, made out of polished metal that was buffed to such a high shine he could see a blurry image of himself and the rest of the party, who all appeared to be dressed in their full adventuring gear rather than pyjamas.

This, Percy was thankful for, as Scanlan had told them (many, many times) that he slept naked when they weren't on the road.

"I'm feeling pretty terrible too," Pike said lightly, clinging to Grog as he got the pair of them upright. "Do you want me to heal you?"

"No, no. I'm- " Keyleth interrupted her own sentence with a wince, pressing a hand to her temple, "I'm okay."

Next to Percy, the twins had struggled their way to the same railing, and Vax was looking Vex over as if to check she still had all her limbs.

The room moved again, and Percy felt his stomach plummet into somewhere in his boots as a disturbed, sad moan came from the back of the room.

"Oh, Trinket!" Vex said, and made a game attempt at letting go of the railing to go to her bear.

"You all made a rookie mistake," Scanlan said from the floor. "Any experienced drinker knows you wait until the room _stops_  moving before you _start_  moving."

The room stopped moving.

A small bell rang.

Percy fumbled with his holster, pulling out his pepperbox, and aimed it towards the doors, waiting to see them ease open the same way they had slid closed earlier.

Vox Machina was not exactly at their best, half-sedated and half-nauseous, and Percy could see his hand shaking terribly, lending him quite the disadvantage if he were to try and shoot.

The doors slowly slid open, revealing their new location inch by inch- A metal floor, covered in some kind of heavy black matting. Wood and metal walls, with rusted corrugated iron, cracked red rock, and a low ceiling. A group of five people in blue-grey coveralls, holding mining tools and wearing bright yellow painted helmets.

"Greetings," Scanlan said from the floor, propping himself up on his elbows and aiming a cheesy grin at the miners.

One of them, a heavily built goliath, lifted his helmet and scratched his head, while a narrow looking elf tilted his head in curiosity.

"Greetings," The elf returned slowly, the words rolling off his tongue in a drawl that made Percy think of back country folk, the kind who had never gone more than ten miles from their house. "What are you doing in our elevator?"

"Elevator? Yes. In the elevator," Vex picked up the conversation, still leaning against Trinket, "we had a rather...big... night. We're not really sure how we ended up here," she said, smiling.

The elf raised an eyebrow. "Well, that must have been a hell of a night, for you to end up in the elevator to a closed off mine shaft without disturbing any of our security..."

"We party hard," Keyleth said helpfully, and the elf shook his head.

"Look, I'm not saying I don't believe you, but there is /no way/ you're telling the truth. I'm going to have to take you to the headman. She'll know what to do."  
The goliath standing next to him leaned down and whispered something.

"...Probably. Probably know what to do."

"Did he say headman, and then 'she'?" Keyleth asked, as they moved out of the little metal room and into the larger chamber.

"Maybe the title's inherited?" Percy suggested, keeping an eye on their surroundings as the miners escorted them out. The mine itself was made out of the same red rock he'd seen through the doors earlier, with old wooden beams and strong metal girders holding it in place. It seemed to have been constructed inside a natural cave, with smaller, human size rooms built into it, lined with metal lockers and floored with the same strange black mats that were slightly springy underfoot. It wasn't like any texture he'd run across before, but the miners seemed to consider it normal, even as Trinket balked at walking on it, letting out an unhappy moan.

"Come on, Trinket," Vex coaxed, putting her back against the bear's butt and pushing him forward onto the matting, "It's fine, see?"

"Oh no," Scanlan said, "Maybe we'll have to leave him here."

"You are not leaving the bear here," said the elf sharply, taking off his bright yellow helmet and setting it on a hook by the door.

After a bit more baby talk from Vex, and Vax walking on the mat to show that the black flooring was not going to burn or drown him, Trinket finally agreed to walk through the hall, but he kept making low, reluctant moans and trailed behind the group, nose tucked firmly into the small of Vex's back.

"So, who's this headman?" Vax asked, trotting a little bit so he could walk next to their guide. "What's she like?"

"Yeah, is she, like, cool?" Keyleth asked, moving up to bracket the elf on his other side. "Or is it more the kind of situation where we need to help you guys do a revolution?"

"She's... interesting," the elf said neutrally, leading them through a low ceilinged room that Grog and the other goliath had to duck through awkwardly. "So, you ain't ever been to Refuge before?"

"That's this place's name? Refuge?" Pike asked, and the elf threw open a final door (adorned with a poster that read: 'you don't have to be obsessed with explosives to work here, but it helps!!' with a cartoon of a small, smoke covered person in the same coverall and yellow helmet that the miners were wearing), revealing more craggy red rock, this time streaked with other colours, pink and orange and purple all woven together- the cliffs of a canyon, leading up to bright, beautiful blue sky.

"Well," Vex said brightly, as a wave of heat hit them, "it's definitely not Whitestone, that's for sure."

"Or Vasselheim," Pike added, pushing a piece of loose rock with the toe of her boot.

"Well, heck no," said the third miner, who had been quiet until now, "You're in Refuge! In the Woven Gulch-"

"Shut it, Telly," said the elf, "we don't know how these strangers got here. This is Cassidy's business."

"Yeah, Telly," the goliath agreed, "nobody wants to hear you talk."

"I want to hear me talk," Telly said sullenly. "and the last lot of strangers didn't do no harm-"

"Cassidy's business!" the elf snapped, and lead the way out into the ravine that the mine was set in.

"You guys ever heard of the Woven Gulch?" Keyleth asked, pulling out the little book she kept her notes in and paging through it. "And the last lot of strangers? What do you think happened?"

"I've known many gulches in my time," Scanlan said, stepping into the sunshine, "but not this one."

"Somehow I doubt the last group of strangers appeared in their...elevator." The new word felt strange on his tongue, like it was something he had never been meant to say, but he shook his head to clear the feeling and tried to focus on their strange surroundings instead.

"Do we even have gulches in Tal'Dorei?" Vex mused, giving Trinket a shove to get him out of the mine. "I don't think I've ever seen a gulch."

"We've seen canyons," Vax said, "What's the difference?"

"They're completely different," Grog rumbled, eyeing the other goliath- specifically, his complete lack of tribal tattoos.

"Oh, right, you know mountain stuff, don't you, Grog?" Pike said lightly, "What's the difference?"

"One ends in -ulch, and the other ends in -anyon," Grog said, and let out a deep laugh, which the other goliath joined.

The mine was located about a five minute walk from the town, it seemed, but even so, by the time Vox Machina and their guides had reached the entrance, most of them had stripped out of their top layers, carrying their coats and cloaks rather than wearing them.

Only Percy, whose commitment to good manners had stopped him, and Vax, who felt uncomfortable when he wasn't shrouded in shadow (he had an aesthetic, and by the gods, a little sunshine was not going to change that) were still wearing their outer layers.

The miners, who had changed into loose, comfortable clothes, eyed them all a little strangely.

"You ain't got fantasy shorts?" Telly asked, trotting at the rear of the pack next to Keyleth, Vex, and Vax.

"...No," Vax said, with a particularly obvious 'I'm humouring you, crazy person' tone to his voice, and Percy couldn't help letting out a huff of laughter.

"Well, that's your problem! I love shorts, they're comfy and easy to wear," Telly continued, and Percy broke into a trot, moving to walk next to the other miners- the elf, the goliath, and a dark haired human woman in her late twenties.

"Is he...always like that?"

"Unfortunately, yes," the elf said, "thankfully, you don't need to be likeable or smart in the mining business."

"Yeah," the goliath agreed, "now we can mine again, Telly's way less annoying."

"Mine again?" Pike asked from her perch on Grog's shoulder, "Was there a problem with the mine?"

"Yeah, you could definitely say that," the human laughed, "but that got sorted, and now we can all go back into the business that suits us."

"I'm a better miner than I was a cobbler," the elf agreed.

"Not as bad a cobbler as Telly was a barber," the goliath said, shaking his head. As the goliath was currently wearing a kind of half-hearted mohawk, the idea that he would be able to judge a bad barber meant that Telly must have been a very, very bad barber.

"What happened to the mine?" Percy asked, and the elf shrugged. Their procession had just reached the edge of Refuge, which had a set of four clay statues standing outside it- an elf in a large, pointed hat, a tall, burly looking human with an axe, and an elderly dwarf with thick glasses- and a sign overhead which read 'REFUGE: By their sacrifice, our town is made safe'.

"Their sacrifice?" Scanlan asked, nodding at the statues.

"No, no. Their sacrifice," the human miner said, and pointed past the sign at another statue, this one made of dark metal. There was another human man and a young girl, and they were being presented with a fancy looking cup by a burly figure in bright red robes that was drawn up to conceal their face.

"What did they sacrifice?"

"Time," the human sounded grim, "and a lot of it, too. Anyway, that's the headman's house, right up here," she pointed at a two story house made of rickety wood and brick, white washed in an attempt to make the building look cohesive. The attempt had failed. Instead, the headman's house looked like someone had taken a reasonable looking two story house, attached a rather shabby bungalow, nailed a shed to the top of the bungalow, and then dipped it all in tippex.

"Oh, how...charming," Percy said, forcing a smile and adjusting his sleeves. "And the headman shall be in there?"

"Yeah, there or at the Davy Lamp," the elf said, pointing out a small inn with a large painted lamp on the sign, just three doors down. "So it'll be easy to find her."

"Yes," Percy continued, looking around at Refuge, which appeared to be made out of a single pair of crossed streets, with about ten buildings. "Otherwise we would be lost."

"I'm starting to think I don't like you much," the elf said, looking Percy up and down.

"You have yet to give a glowing impression yourself," Vax replied, crossing his arms, and the elf stepped forward, knocking on the door sharply.

"Hopefully I won't need to. You're Cassidy's problem now. I hope I never see you again!" he said cheerfully, and he turned to go, leaving them on the doorstep of the headman's house.

"The feeling's mutual!" Vax called after him, and there was a loud, repetitive thumping sound from behind the door.

“We never even got his name…” Keyleth mused, as Percy tried to pin down what the strange sound behind the door could be.

It reminded him, ever so slightly, of faded memories- his younger siblings running up and down the stairs, rough-housing, not thinking of how the sound would travel to the floors below.

With a thump, the door slammed open, revealing a tall, stringy looking half-orc woman in an ill-fitting suit, mouth slightly ajar to reveal a few missing teeth and some half chewed candy.

"What's all this about, huh?"

"Well," Percy started, but couldn't quite think of how to continue, faced with so much...face. Eyes that didn't look quite in the same direction, missing one tusk and a couple of the more humanoid teeth, chewing furiously as she hooked her thumbs through her braces and stared at Vox Machina with one and a half eyes (the other half appeared to be staring at something just over Percy's shoulder, and he found it very difficult not to turn and look).

"More gerblins?" she shrieked, squinting at Scanlan and Pike, "Whatcha doing in my town, little gerblins? We trapped in another time loop?"

"Gerblins?"

"Time loop?"

"Your town?" Vax looked the woman up and down, from her heavy mining boots to her grease-slicked hair, "You're the headman?"

"That one's me, mhm," she nodded, "Headman Cassidy, atcha service."

"Percival Frederickstein Von Musel Klossowski De Rolo the third, at yours," Percy replied automatically, etiquette lessons taking over.

"You can call him Percy," the rest of the party chorused behind him.

"What if I wanna call him Von Musel?" Cassidy asked, spitting on the doorstep.

"...I prefer Percy," Percy said slowly, trading a bewildered look with Vex.

"Well, you're all gerblins to me!" Cassidy said cheerfully, stepping out of the way and waving them in, "So, what's this time loop about?"

"You've been in a time loop?" Scanlan asked, "That's pretty sci-fi. How did you break it?"

"Oh, we didn't break it, it was them last group of gerblins that ended up here, Merle and company," Cassidy explained, leading them into a shabby, but well cared for living room, and settling on a moth eaten couch.

Above them, a fan turned slow circles, bringing a faint breeze to the room, and Cassidy settled on a battered armchair.

"You can put your bear under the fan if you want, he must be getting awful hot," Cassidy said, and Trinket lowed sadly, lumbering into the room and dropping onto the bare boards beneath the fan.

"Yes, your fan is very curious. How does it work?"

"No idea! But if y'all ain't here because of a time loop, what're you doing in Refuge?"

"Well, we're not really sure," Vex said, taking a careful seat on one of the couches. A small cloud of dust was thrown up, but otherwise she seemed fine, so the rest of the group joined her.

"Yes, we woke up in your...elevator," Vax continued, "without a clue how we got there."

"The elevator in the mine?" Cassidy asked, and when they confirmed it, she hummed, stroking her chin. "Well, I've had more'n a couple of strange nights waking up in strange elevators, but never in someone's secure mine shaft."

Grog let out a low laugh.

"So as to what you're saying now, I can believe you don't know where you are," she continued. "Y'all sure aren't dressed for the weather here, and there's nobody who'd come to Woven Gulch in a velvet coat," she gestured at Percy's blue coat, which he adjusted self-consciously. It was _very_  hot, but he couldn't walk around in just his shirt-sleeves. That was practically _naked_. It was _indecent_. It was _very sweaty_  and he was regretting all those etiquette lessons  _so badly_.

"Which means as our question has been gone and done changed!"

Grog let out a confused sound, and Pike leaned over and whispered a translation.

"And now that is our question that's how in the heck did all y'all winter folks end up in my gosh darn town, huh?"

"...That is the question that we're also trying to answer," Vax agreed, and Vex nodded.

"I assume you haven't had this happen before?" Scanlan asked, "just the time loop thing?"

"Mm, yep, to be sure," Cassidy nodded, "and then there was the bubble time, when we were catching up with the world, but now we're here and now and there ain't no reason for appearing people into my mine."

"Ain't no reason at all," Scanlan agreed, "But if weird things have happened in Refuge before, maybe we can talk to the people who helped then?"

"Well, that'd be Paloma and the brothers over at that temple of Istus which that I definitely did not blow up."

"Good to know," Scanlan nodded slowly, "And where's the temple of Istus?"

"Over past the bank," Cassidy said, pointing one crooked, green finger out the window, "and Paloma's off near the orchards, roundabout that-a way too."

"Two birds, one stone," Scanlan turned to the party, "so, gang, do we split up to cover more ground?"

Vox Machina looked immensely out of place in the old living room, dressed in full armour, winter garb piled on their laps, awkwardly trying not to

"I guess we should," Keyleth said, looking out the window towards the orchards.

"Oh, all of you'll want to see Paloma," Cassidy said, "just in case."

"In case of what?"

"In case she has a prophecy, of course!" Cassidy rolled her eyes, "She don't repeat 'em, so you gotta make sure everyone's present or else you'll miss out! She's also made biscotti today, and that's not something a friend would let a friend miss."

"Biscotti?"

"Prophecy?"

"Mm, Yep, we got plenty of both!" Cassidy grinned brightly at them, “So, you know, welcome to Refuge!”

“...I would really like to go home now,” Percy said softly, threading his hands through his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thank you all so much for your comments! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed the chapter, and you might get a minor character named after you in the next chapter! You can also come talk to me about D&D over at my tumblr @ramblingstride.  
> ETA: Holy heck guys, I posted this last night right before bed and didn't see that all the formatting got SUPER MESSED UP. That's been fixed, so hopefully the chapter is far more readable- thank you to those who persisted in reading it, even with the terrible formatting.

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I sat down to write a simple, 6-8 chapter crossover involving Vox Machina in Faeruun. I stood up with a 30k word plot outline with ARCs and CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. 
> 
> I'll be updating once a week, hopefully, and all comments really do make a difference if you're interested in me continuing this effort.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at ramblingstride and talk to me about D&D.


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